Thick-soled
knee-length fabric boots from China. The leg and uppers are made of
black satin-woven silk, lined with coarse white cotton. The uppers of
the foot are made in two parts, with a seam at either side of the foot
and a band across the front: they are made as a traditional Chinese
slipper, and are lined with blue dyed cotton. The leg is made in two
parts seamed up the front and back and is interlined with cotton. The
leg is longer at the front than at the back, and has a curved upper
edge. The whole is sewn with a cotton binding on to a rigid sole 25
mm thick, which has an upturned toe tapering to 8 mm in thickness guarding
the front of the foot. The sole wedge is covered by a bias-cut white
cotton layer, and the sole itself is covered by thin leather sewn in
place with three rows of cotton stitching. The sole is constructed of
layers of cotton sewn tightly together to build up to the required depth
of the wedge.

Stockings made to be worn with these boots also survive. The sole of the stocking
is of stitched coarse cotton of several layers. The uppers of the slipper
section are in two parts, seamed at front and back; this part is made
of a fine cotton and is stitched on to the leg which is of fine silk.
Up to the ankle this silk is white, and above that a coffee colour,
with a black silk bound edge curved to match the boot, which it is designed
to top. Just below the binding is a coloured braid, which also would
show above the boot. The leg of the stocking is padded, and lined with
a coarse soft cotton. The padding is arranged in simple longitudinal
stitched quilting, each rib being packed with strands of tow-like material
and with silk waste.

COMMENTARY:

The design
of these boots is a modification of the traditional riding-boots of
the Manchu, the rulers of China in the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911). The
thick, rigid-soled, turned-up-toe shape fits firmly into the big stirrup
which the Manchus used. This style of boot became part of Manchu court
dress and was adopted into general use. This relatively shallow-soled
version with fine silk legs is a dress boot of the seventeenth century.
A much more exaggerated version can be seen in Chinese operatic and
theatrical dress of the present day. Such boots would be worn with wide
baggy trousers bound to the leg and tucked into the tops of the boots,
which are usually hidden by a long gown. While the quilting of the stockings
is traditional for Chinese winter wear, the use of fine silk for the
legs points to a good quality garment, probably for dress wear.